Stamping and Inking

Before I disappeared, I went to a free class at Archiver's. It was a stamping basics class.  I must say, it was BASIC.  I guess you get what you pay for, it was free.  I enjoyed the class but I'm not certain I learned much.  If you spend much time on-line and you poke around, I'm guessing you would know most of the things they taught. However, they provided the information in an easy to understand system and they allowed you to play with the different ways of stamping. 

One plus was their description of the different types of inks -- archival, pigment, etc.

I don't think I was their target audience.  Unfortunately for them, I know that I can buy most of the stuff they sell for a fraction of the cost.  I will say, I like looking at their papers and stamps.  It is great to actually "feel" the stuff but then I tend to buy on line. 

If you are going to stamp then you need to figure out inking the images (coloring in for those of us that don't think of themselves as artists).  I have looked at the Copic Markers but the cost is just too much for me.  I've invested a lot of money in my Cricut with the different software, files I've purchased and the cartridges.  Then there is paper.  The thought of spending another couple hundred dollars on markers is more than I can stomach.  Especially since I'm not sure I will be any good at it and I don't know if I want to spend the time on inking.  I recently purchased these markers

They were less than $20 at Staples so I thought I could give it a try and maybe this would allow me to figure out if I liked the idea of Copics.  Well, this isn't really working for me.  Here are a few things I've done so far

 I don't like the way this turned out.  It doesn't shade well and the colors don't mix.  Here is another picture of the larger flower.

This flower looks OK but mostly because it didn't require the colors to blend.  I did this flower a number of different times, in yellow, purple, blue and pink.  Because these don't blend well and they don't have a ton of different colors, this works but not incredibly well.

This is the only one that I actually liked.  I felt like the colors worked well and this little guy turned out cute.  I'm not certain what I will do with him (and his brothers from the upper photo) but I had fun making him.

All of this is a long way of getting to ProMarkers.  I love the work of Enfys (she has the life 6 months in the US and 6 months in the UK every year).  Although I can't imagine trying to cross the pond twice a year with all of my crafting materials.  Enfys received a complete set of ProMarkers to give away.  They seem to be a fantastic alternative to Copics.  Here is a place to purchase the ProMarkers.  Here are a number of tutorials about these markers from Enfys. 

Two other bloggers have worked with these pens Diane at Capadia Designs and Okie Ladybug.

This has me thinking about whether I should invest in these markers.  Right now I'm leaning toward it but I don't have a definite time frame.